M ost candidates running in the 2026 local government election had filed days before the nomination deadline passed at 4 pm Friday. Other candidates, who everyone knew would run but had not filed, popped their last-minute “Surprise! I’m running!” charade to no one’s surprise.

For the 30 percent of Comox Valley residents who vote in municipal elections, it was an exciting moment. The other 70 percent, who won’t vote, released a deep, collective yawn.

Well, it is true, you won’t find many surprises in this year’s candidate line-up. So, let’s have a look at the Good, the Bad and the Nothing’s New.

The Good News

MORE CANDIDATES – Seventy people are running for the 31 Comox Valley elected offices, an increase of 23 percent over the 57 who ran in 2022.

MORE WOMEN – Women account for 41 percent of the candidates (20 of 49) this year, excluding the School District (nine out of 11) ) and the Islands Trust (two out of 10). Comox has the highest percentage of women seeking office (seven out of 12) at 58 percent. That compares to 35 percent in Courtenay (eight out of 23) and 25 percent in Cumberland (two out of eight).

And, a woman is running for the mayor’s chair in Courtenay for the first time in 18 years, since Star Winchester ran for re-election 2008.

The Nothing’s New

DEJA VU – It feels like Groundhog Day all over again in Courtenay’s mayoral race, where the late-filing Trish McPhail will split the center-progressive vote, maybe clearing a path to His Honor’s chair for Manno Theos. Comox Valley’s sitting conservative MLA and MP both won their seats thanks to vote splitting between the NDP and Greens. Will it happen again? Maybe. It is highly unlikely that McPhail will take votes away from Theos supporters. Her share will come from Incumbent Mayor Bob Wells. The question here is: Can Wells and McPhail get enough new voters out to both outpoll Theos?

ACCLAIMED – Several candidates have already won their election races because no one challenged them. Comox Mayor Nicole Minions won her second consecutive election by acclamation. In two mayoral terms she has never been opposed. Cumberland Mayor Vickey Brown and Electoral Area A regional Director Daniel Arbour also were acclaimed.

SAME NAMES – Many familiar names dot the candidate list, again. Ken Grant seeks his seventh term on Comox Council, a total of 21 years. Maureen Swift has warmed her council chair for 15 years. Erik Eriksson … filed again. He won a council chair in 1986 and again in 2014. Then, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2018 and again in 2022. This will be Jin Lin’s third try for Courtenay council. She came close in 2018 and 2022. Phil Adams got less than a 1,000 votes in 2022, but he’s having another go.

Candidates keep trying, because on election day, anything’s possible. Voters are a little like courtroom juries. Unpredictable. Just look at Brennan Day. Courtenay voters rejected him twice. Now he’s the riding’s MLA.

The Bad News

GET OUTTA HERE – We like that candidates have shared their reasons for seeking office on the competing Facebook politics pages. But we don’t like it when their words are almost identical. Check out the social media posts above and below. That’s just a small sampling of what’s being posted by many first-time candidates.

Is this plagiarism? Did some third party group write these posts for multiple candidates? Did these candidates use AI to write their posts? It’s almost certainly not a coincidence. Benvenuti’s post admits that it includes AI content. So what IS going on here? Whatever “it” is, it’s not a good look for these candidates.

BIG MONEY STINKS – We’re gagging on the prolific fake accounts and paid trolls trying to influence our local government elections, primarily for Courtenay City Council and mayor. They post angry and vacuous comments. When you click on their profile, you find nothing. A picture of a human, but no profile. No history of posts or friends. Nada. It’s just garbage littering the Internet.